Learn to live, or is it live to learn? You decide.

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Most people, if not all have heard the term "the seat of higher learning."  Many attribute this to colleges and universities, although learning begins to take place from day one of our lives, and continues for the duration, no matter how long that duration might be.  There are some who love learning, and others who run from it like rats off a sinking ship.  Many would be full time students, forever and a day, while others would never darken the doorway of any place of learning.  No matter where you fall on this spectrum, learning lessons is always going to be your choice to make.  With that in mind, I'm going to use a few motivational techniques this morning to move you in what I believe to be the right direction when it comes to all things learning.

Mastering life's lessons comes easy for some, while others seem to struggle with it daily.  I'm not so sure that those that struggle are always on the short end of the stick.  Believe it or not, testing and trials do teach, and often the wounds of war are lasting.  I'm not here to say we all need to be whipped by life in order to learn, but often the most challenging of lessons, are also the most life changing.  Well, life changing if you are willing to learn from experience. I'm of firm belief that all learning is good, but all learning is not always going to come from a classroom.  Most classroom education is very sterile, and by that I mean basic.  Two plus two is always going to equal four.  Our planet orbits the sun.  However, what came first the chicken or the egg?  When we get into thought provoking situations the learning is not nearly as sterile, nor simple, and that's when things get a little wonky.

There is no escaping the lessons we are destined to learn in life.  I've always said that you will continue to go around Robin Hood's barn until you learn the lesson you have been sent to learn.  I'd like to tell you that I've always learned lessons the first time around, but not true, and not even close.  Try as I might, I get slammed with stupidity from time to time, maybe more like stubbornness, but in reality one and the same.  When we run from learning, we are actually running from life.  There are people believe it or not who are absolutely scared to death to learn.  I'm not quite sure why they got this way, maybe a few hard knocks in the past, but terrified they are.  Some people say that learning is exciting, or it should be.  But we can't discount those who because of past hurts and scares would rather not go through things again.  It would be so simple to think that it's always going to be one and done, but not so.  We will repeat mistakes, if for no other reason than to get better at repeating mistakes.

If one will embrace learning, then one will enjoy living.  If someone wants to run from life my guess is that one or more of life's lesson is pushing them in that direction.  There is no escaping life's lessons, no way, no how.  Well unless you live under a rock, and never come out.  Embrace it, embrace it, embrace it, and after that, maybe try to embrace it a little bit more.  Whether you want to admit it, we all take something away from lessons.  We might not have taken 100 percent of what we were supposed to get, but even a small percentage is still a life lesson, and each life lesson moves us a little farther along our path.  In actuality, isn't that what life is all about?  I mean moving forward on your path, discovering new things, doing what you were sent here to do?

I honestly can't tell you how I got to where I am today.  Certainly I've learned lessons along the way, but if you had told me years ago that I would be an author I'd of thought you mad.  Can I see how all the lessons have gotten me here?  In reality, some of my lessons really sucked, and I still can't figure out why I went through them LOL.  That being said, I have learned a few things over the years, and I have learned to embrace change, embrace lessons, and most importantly, embrace life for the learning  environment that it is.  You can either choose life, which we already know is full of lessons, or you can run from it.  However, if you choose to run from life, you are still going to have to go through the lesson process, there is no escaping it.  God had a sense of humor when all this life lesson stuff was put into place wouldn't you say?

In all seriousness, learning opportunities are growth opportunities.  There will be things that come simple, and others sadly will be hard.  Some learning is colorful, and at other times they are shades of gray and you will have to decide what is best.  It would be nice if all learning was cut and dry, but not so, and that's still ok.

I guess my very simple question to you today is what decision will you make?  Will you embrace lessons that are meant to mold, shape, mature, inspire, or will you turn away and ignore them?  It's kind of a rhetorical question because no matter what you say, you really don't have a choice when all is said and done, as you will learn the lesson you are supposed to learn no matter how much time it takes.  If you don't believe me simply keep doing what you might be doing.  Trust me, lessons will find you in some fashion or form, and you will learn what you need.

I want to leave you with some encouragement, as some might think that life will only be something to look at with dread.  You are destined for great things.  You didn't come to this life simply for the free popcorn.  In the perfection of the universe you will discover your destiny, and that destiny will be the things that dreams are made of.  Embrace lessons as a formula for your uniqueness.  Be open to lessons as a foundation of who you really are.  When you finally begin to live the life you were always intended to live, doing the things you were always intended to do, touching the life that need your very special gifts, then you will see the genius of the universe, and why you have gone through what you have gone through.  Trust me, life is such an adventure, and life is a journey of discovery.  It is in discovering your gifts, stepping out into your destiny, that will make every past lesson something to appreciate, and something so worth embracing.